Mobile indicial device

ABSTRACT

A MOBILE INDICIAL DEVICE IS DISCLOSED HEREIN WHICH HAS A BODY, GRIPPING TANS, A FRICTION GRIPPING SURFACE AND IS MOST APPROPRIATELY UTILIZED AS A DETACHABLE MARKER FOR DOCUMENTS AND THE LIKE. THE DEVICE IS SHOWN IN CONJUNCTION WITH DOCUMENTS TO SHOW THE BEST USE THEREOF.

Jan.5,1971 R R, DALZIEL 3,552,047

MOBILE IND ICIAL DEVICE Fi'ld Aug. 2o, 1968 FIGZ INVENTOR ROWENA R. DALZ IEL ATTORNEY 3,552,047 MOBILE INDICIAL DEVICE Rowena R. Dalziel, 503 E. South St., Geneseo, Ill. 61254 Filed Aug. 20, 1968, Ser. No. 753,963 Int. Cl. G09f 3/16 U.S. Cl. 40-23 8 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a lmobile indicial device `which includes a -body of resilient sheet material having tangs normally in the plane of the lbody and connected to the body as a continuation thereof so that by deflecting the tangs to a position out of the plane of the body, the device can be readily attached to a document, document sheet, or the like by placing the deflected tangs over the sheet with the sheet between the plane of the body and the deflected tangs. The tangs will ultimately frictionally tend to grip the document or the like between the tangs and the body when the tangs are released from the dellected position. An adhesive friction means is provided on the tangs and the adjacent body portion to provide a retaining-gripping action between the device of this invention and the document or the like to provide a detachable retention of the device to the document or the like.

Heretofore, there appears to have been two basic types of indicial devices for marking thin, flat objects such as one or more sheets of a document or the like. These devices appear to be either mobile or permanent. Although the permanent type provides a reliable indicator, it, of course, lacks the highly desirable characteristie of being movable or reusable with Various documents or the like. The mobile type such as a paper clip or the like either lacks sufficient structural characteristics to allow it to retain itself to the item to which it is applied for an appropriate length of time under adverse conditions of usage; or the device is provided with a more severe retention characteristic which results in wrinkling, defacement or other damaging effects on the item to which it is attached.

Further, existing devices in `addition to not being sufficiently attachable and detachable to be Iboth mobile and detachably permanent, fail to be economically disposable and do not provide an extended indicial and erasable marking surface which could be color coded.

It is, therefore, highly desirable and a general object of this invention to provide a mobile indicial device which is readily attachable to a thin, flat object such as one or more sheets of a document or the like whereby the device is completely mobile and yet will securely retain itself to the object to which it is applied without causing damage to the object, and which is sufficiently economical to be disposable if desired, las well as having an erasable, extended marking surface for written or colored indicia.

Other advantages and novel aspects of the invention will become apparent upon examination of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG, l is a general perspective view of a multi-sheet document having various modifications of the indicial ited States Patent device of this invention applied to selected sheets thereof;

FIG. 2 is 4a plan view of the indicial device of this invention showing an illustration of a configuration of the body, tangs, friction means and marking surface;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 showing the thickness of the device of this invention in Ian exaggerated manner for clarity;

FIG. 4 is an end view of a thin, flat object such as a sheet or the like, and the indicial device of this invention showing the device in the process of being applied to a sheet or the like with the tangs thereof deflected from the body;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a single sheet or the like with the indicial device of this invention applied thereto; and

EFIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken along line 6 6 of FIG. 5 showing the indicial device of this invention applied to a sheet or the like and with additional sheets therewith.

A mobile indicial device, generally designated by the numeral 10 with modifications 10a and 10b, is disclosed herein (FIGS. l-6) for the purpose of illustrating the invention and includes generally a body 11, tangs 12 and friction means 13.

The lbody 11 is preferably made with a smooth resilient material such as plastic, paper, cardboard, or similar material, and has an indicia surface 15 which can be adapted to be an erasable surface so that the surface can be reused for different indicia. The tangs 12 are connected to the body 11 as a continuation thereof. The remaining portion of the tangs 12 is defined by an edge 16 which is in immediate adjacent relationship with the body 11.

The friction means 13 (FIGS. 2-6) is most appropriately a pli-able, dry and tacky non-friable material such as polychloroprene, polybutadiene or polyisoprene adhesives applied to one or both sides of the body 11 and along the tangs 12. The amount and type of the friction material 13 applied is determined by the -amount of retaining friction or gripping desired for the intended use of a given device configuration. The material 13 is a thin film, although it is shown thicker for clarity.

The indicial device 10 is applied to a thin flat object 17 such as a sheet or the like by placing the edge of this body 11, which is opposite the space 15, under the sheet or the like 17 (FIG. 4) and the body is flexed so that the tangs 12 are deflected out of the plane of the body 11. The device 10 can then be moved onto the sheet 17 with the sheet inserted between the tangs 12 and the portion of the body 11 immediately adjacent the tangs.

The body 11 is then allowed to straighten toward its normal condition (FIGS. 2 and 3) whereby the device will grip the sheet 17 (FIGS. l, 5 and 6) in releasable fashion. Thus, the indicial device of this invention provides a completely mobile indicial device which will readily and securely retain itself to a sheet or the like in a readily detachable fashion without any possibility of causing damage to the sheet.

It should be noted that the various embodiments 10a and 10b illustrated (-FIG. 1) provide several types of body portions and indicial marking surfaces adapted to extend from the sheet or the like to which the device is removably attached.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, as it will be understood to those skilled in the art that certain changes may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A mobile indicial device comprising a body of resilient sheet material, tang means normally in the general plane of said body and within the periphery of said body, said tang means being connected to said body on only one end thereof as a continuation of said body to allow entry of a thin at article between said tang means and said body when the non-connected portion of said tang means is deliected out of the general plane of said body for ultimately frictionally tending to grip said -flat article between said tang means and said body when said tang means is released from the deflected condition, and a temporarily adhering friction means on the surface of said tang means and the surface of said body adjacent said tang means for further gripping the flat article t detachably retain the device to the article.

2. A mobile indicial device as defined in claim 1 wherein said friction means comprises a pliable dry and tacky non-friable surface.

3. A mobile indicial device as defined in claim 2 wherein said surface is a strip 0n said body along said series of tangs and the adjacent body portions between said tangs.

4. A mobile indicial device as defined in claim 2 wherein said surfaces comprise a strip on each side of said body.

5. A mobile indicial device as delined in claim 4 wherein said strip has a width less than the length of said tangs.

6. A mobile indicial device as defined in claim 1 wherein said body has an erasable indicia surface extending away from the area of conneciton of said tangs with said body and extending beyond the document or sheet to provide an indicia. surface suicient for ready observation.

7. A mobile indicial device as defined in claim 6 wherein said friction means comprises a pliable dry and tacky non-friable surface.

8. A mobile indicial device as defined in claim 7 wherein said surfaces comprise a strip on each side of said body and said strip has a width less than the length of said tangs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 681,521 8/1901 Tressel 40-23A 2,478,376 8/ 1949 De Swart 24--67.9 2,621,945 12/ 1952 Cooper 24-67.9X 2,717,572 9/1955 Kingman 24-67.9X 3,137,934 6/1964 Rhoads 24-67.9X 3,425,389 2/ 1969 Sacco et al. 24-255P JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner W. I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner 

